Projection of twisted wires



y 1949. H. E. WELLCOME 2,469,533

PROJECTIbN OF TWISTED WIRES Filed Nov. 23, 1945 INVENTQR HUBERT E. WELLCOM E W BY C A-ho'RNEY Patented May 10, 1949 RATE o1=mcE 'BIEOJEQIIQN F TWISWED WIRES Huhe tiE" tl csim f casan xi eaN X- ApnlicationiNovember 23, 1945, SerialENo; 630%5295 lag wli) 50mins. i-l

- This inventi rel te ohe. ap dtl i sve teiephonegandvother lincss cross. dange u e rain or terrain impossible for men to traverse.-

Innwen ara he-st w rd; u its arev t in a n sitionsi -hich,- although;somewhatpr t t d, they cannot-the eac fr ndly djacen bodieswofi troops..- Communication -with such hodiesiis. difiiculti and. uncertain, h av relia fl beineimacedson. the t lephone. When. thence Rants, attempts, to. ep ir-v it o xa oth r-.- me mustawe teanl hnontunity- 11 11 13 .ar ea so im i. ca r an when tis: dasirab ecr necessary-to spanv a dista ce with alephone line. .wh chrdista celcannc -sp ed ,hyia man vesseluon-yehicle traversing it. For uch nu};poses, the. presentv invention :is suited;

D nemethod of establishin communication ,;in such'fiiti atiqnssasputlined above'is by projccting mine Hamishhhe,-air,. rai in it behind a fi e slu H wever diffi ulties d velop. in.- s1lch: annoy cedure as it,.has been ioundthat firing-a lineby me ns of;.atLylergun n ith n p l ing. the telephone. w re tbnmea s or the, line: is-- difficult or impossible QVBIQIQllghIBll-ifiih: Attempts-to subr stitute.ate ephpne-w re..for the ifibmushuneused with ucheunsinvolve dimcultiesdu t th sti ness of the wires and their construction, involving as it dqes a;-;-p,ai1i-ot twisted wires with an irregular surface. Coils of this wire are extremely diflicult to past-out at proj ectile velocities, as the coil cannot be accelerated to the desired speedin the shorttime the-projectilereachesits maximum velocity. Attempts to draw the wire from one end of a stationary-coil; inian. aXiahd-irection, result in kinking and snarling of the wire, due apparent1y; .tn the irregular surface.

. the above difi'rculti'es in mind, it is aprimary object ofthe present invention to provide a method of projecting twisted. wiresby means of a fired projectile.

lt is;a, f,urther object otthe present invention to provide a method for laying telephone wires which can utilize a projectile and which can be employed without requiring that coils of twisted wire be used.

Referring now to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view, in section, and diagrammatic in nature, of one form of apparatus for practicing this invention; and

Fig. 2 is a similar view of the same apparatus in operation.

The principle upon which the present invention operates is the utilization of coils of single wires which, as wire is withdrawn from the coil, tend to twist together. The agency for carrying the monzitedithnean 2 jeetilewhichrpulls thewwin s ti he; m ime, becauseict it ordas ts the-twistin otthe wimwcnshts on rom the 911s: itsi ctatiqn Wilsfii.

5A3 cannon; Ill-havin -i-fli 16 5'- hQW n hi h isjc pable of; g the projectil l l uponignitign of: he prope n char -'Ehis can onnmay faaumuitable nature-ra ches. ania t lerv moi, .re 'naese ial r d sienc e i c As hown the hero is a .6? hort, h qu red. -,m z.zl. reluctan 9 and 423 59 o rthein ie il vnr-w jects from the bore before-firing -.T,hc riqriczis:ctile l L; -rnmvidei with arm pr jeeting fronr diametrically oppositeepoints. 4 T lhese ggms l reshc nias mqufnted=onaesh rt cntm1 red; 1 3 W n-tu nim upt dp eno e oz the: projectile ;.bedy.. If the; piece in is, breech lca na, the-(arms may sco t in p a e a t r the projectile is in the bore. They are rigidvdth t erss oath erpie iila a =th s at a i h re is-s w 1-.asoun cdv 5 i-which r ur d totthe cweyen;they need not be actually d rnight beseparate there.- mmi. Eart enhcush: the a e ShQ l: die.- metr ca lneec iteeach. Q cr; ith: espe t the hereof th piec w hi t eoretical :ea st. then-can actua lnbai ninsizar c sbelcw the p ec ifz-dcsirame.

Imthe Sh0W 'hfQ1i :.f1he 00. 1 5: I18; aresolcnqiddl, clcnclv:wound;v ay rs of; W r r hcse c0 1 are readily formed by winding on a rotating-;.mandre 1 im 1i3h8;-.- 5 8 1'.': @Sh QIL *Both; arawwq nd 9112 t 'lihcnmav; tha cb inserted i th cas $4M. .lasz hewnesaes nesrare prov ded w thzaisial onenings w t rounded ed esto, assur-fi free nezcutnfr he-m re: Therinnenfindic the wire 19 is the first to leave the coil and the (linen and man hefastenedtoany sui ables pport 9 .tciahather. c 11 ndented" ,A. snr ne .5-. ha een. ah cribingn rt r. the! sh es arising when the projectile reaches the target, but proper firing will result in the projectile just barely reaching the desired point, so no very elaborate shock absorbing devices will be required.

It is to be understood that although the wires are shown as in separate cases, they can actually be wound side by side on the same mandrel, the wires alternating convolution by convolution, and the device will work as it does with two separate coils. However, the principle of operation is more easily understood in the shown form.

In order for. the device to function properly, it is necessary that there be a certain relationship between the rifiing of the piece l and the coils of wire. The wire of a coil made in the fashion described will, upon being pulled out axially, be found to have a twist in it. This twist amounts to one turn per convolution of the coil, or very nearly that value.

If two wires are both given such torsional deformation, they will be found to have a positive tendency to twist around each other, thus forming the desired twisted pair of wires.

In the apparatus shown, assuming perfect torsional elasticity in the wire while twisting one turn per convolution, the tendency of the wires to twist into a pair would be such as to cause the wires to form a definite number of lays per convolution. The exact number can be calculated, but for practical purposes one lay per convolution is the value aimed at. Friction between the wires and resistance to bending of the wires have their effects on the exact lay attained. Furthermore, the relation between the rotation and linear travel of the projectile changes constantly, due to air resistance acting to slow the rotation and the velocity along line of flight, gravity changing the vertical component of that velocity, and the drag of the wire slowing the velocity along the line of flight. These effects can be somewhat balanced by the selection of the proper inner and outer diameters of the coils. For practical purposes the device works well enough if the projectile turns once for each coil pulled out, on the average.

Fig. 2 shows the projectile in flight, being otherwise the same as Fig. 1. As can be seen, the projectile is turning to the right, as viewed from the breech, and the wire unwinds in the same direction, as seen from the same point. These relationships are correct for operation of the device.

Although the device has been shown with a projectile which is fired from a rifle, it is to be understood that any rotating moving body can be used for towing. Rockets propelled by jets set at an angle to cause rotation of the rocket body can be used, but the principle remains the same. Provision for protecting the wires from the hot gases emerging from the jets can be made by towing a length of steel cable immediately behind the rocket, to which the wire may be attached, as steel cable is resistant enough to the action of the heat to which it would be subjected.

It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative of the invention only, and not limitative, as various modifications may be readily made without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for laying twisted wire by towing behind a projectile comprising a projectile, means causing rotating flight of said projectile, a pair of wires coiled for withdrawal in a direction axial of the convolutions of the wire, and means connecting the wires to the projectile for twisting upon rotation of said projectile during flight.

2. Apparatus for laying twisted wire by towing behind a projectile comprising a projectile, means causing rotating flight of said projectile, a plurality of coils of wire, each coiled for withdrawal in a direction axial of the coil, and means connecting the wire of each coil to the projectile for twisting upon rotation of said projectile during flight.

3. Apparatus for laying wire by towing behind a projectile comprising a projectile, means causing rotating flight of said projectile, a coil of wire coiled for withdrawal in a direction axial of the coil, the direction of uncoiling being of the same hand as the rotation of the projectile, and means connecting the wire to the projectile, whereby the torsional deformation of the wire engendered by its withdrawal from the coil is counteracted by rotation of the projectile during flight.

4. Apparatus for laying twisted wire by towing behind a projectile comprising a projectile, means causing rotating flight of said projectile, a plurality of coils of wire, each coiled for withdrawal in a direction axial of the coil, the direction of uncoiling being of the same hand as the rotation of the projectile, and means connecting the wire to the projectile, whereby the torsional deformation of the wire engendered by its withdrawal from the coil is counteracted by the rotation of the projectile which also twists the wires together.

5. Apparatus for laying twisted wire by towing behind a projectile comprising, a projectile, a gun having rifling in the bore thereof for causing rotating flight of said projectile, a plurality of coils of wire, means connecting each of the wires to the projectile, each coil coiled for withdrawal in a direction axial of the coil, the direction of uncoiling being of the same hand as the rotation of the projectile, the diameter of the coils being related to the rifiing so that substantially one convolution will be drawn from each of the coils for each revolution of the projectile.

I-IU'BERT E. WELLCOME.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 281,041 Evans et a1 July 10, 1883 2,399,136 Mount April 23, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 302,968 Germany Jan. 12, 1918 

